Growth: The new Conservative vision?

Posted on April 9, 2013 by

800px-Bush_Inauguration08The Weekly Standard recently posted a pair of articles about the need of the GOP to craft a policy and political agenda centered on “growth.” The authors focus on economic growth, but they focus on how that growth improves opportunities for education, economic mobility, access to affordable health care, tax relief, low energy costs, and stronger families and communities, particularly for lower and middle-income Americans.

Is “growth,” as described by these authors, the right formula and message for a national revival of conservatism and for a renewed conservative policy vision for the country? Only time will tell – but let us know what you think by leaving a comment below.

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The Iron Lady’s legacy

Posted on April 8, 2013 by

Margaret_Thatcher_1983The legendary Margaret Thatcher, former prime minister of Britain, has died at age 87. The Iron Lady led Britain through the 1980s, bringing unions to heel, producing a dramatic turnaround in the British economy, and working with U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to end the Cold War.

As National Review Online said in its obituary,

Margaret Thatcher … the greatest peacetime British prime minister of the 20th century, and her achievements in foreign policy were second only to those of Churchill.

In domestic policy, she reversed the decline of the previous 30 years and revived both the British economy and the British spirit. In foreign policy, she was instrumental to the free world’s victory in the Cold War — a victory achieved “without firing a shot,” as she herself phrased it.

Here’s a video of Thatcher giving her pithy opinion of socialism during her last speech in the House of Commons in 1990. Here’s another of her speaking about “Thatcherism” and unions.

One more: “There is no such thing as public money; there is only taxpayers’ money.”

Bravo, Mrs. Thatcher, and thank you.

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Politicization of homosexuality barrels on

Posted on April 5, 2013 by

GayBusIn the “gay rights” debate over the years, I have raised the point that the psychiatric and psychological professional associations normalized the condition of homosexuality because of politics, not science. Typically, my claim is greeted with jeers and laughter from skeptical and disdainful opponents.

But truth is truth. When I co-ghost-wrote a book for a former boss, Congressman William E. Dannemeyer, titled Shadow in the Land: Homosexuality in America, in 1989, I knew the truth about the politics of homosexuality within the psychiatric and psychological professions.

Nine years after the 1973 convention vote within the American Psychiatric Association (APA), Ronald Bayer, a professor at the Center for the History and Ethics of Public Health, in the Mailman School of Public Health, at Columbia University, released a book titled Homosexuality and American Psychiatry: The Politics of Diagnosis. Dr. Bayer supports the change in APA policy to remove homosexuality from the official list of mental disorders. Let me repeat: Dr. Bayer supports homosexuality as a normal human condition and, from everything I can discern, supports “gay rights” generally. Continue reading →

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What a liberal ‘economic recovery’ feels like

Posted on April 4, 2013 by

money_mattersTechnically, the so-called “Great Recession” ended in June 2009. So does it feel like an “economic recovery” to you? Fortunately for many Utahns – in part due to the generally conservative public policies put in place by Utah policymakers – the answer is “yes.”

But if you are one of those who answer “no,” then you’re like the rest of the country.

According to a recent Pew survey, 83 percent of Americans view the national economy as “fair” (43 percent) or “poor” (40 percent). By contrast, only 16 percent describe the economy as “excellent or good.” Additionally, 71 percent say either that “the economy is not recovering yet, but will recover soon” (31 percent) or that “it will be a long time before the economy recovers” (40 percent).

Further, more people say that they expect economic conditions will be worse a year from now (32 percent) than better (25 percent). What’s more, these numbers have declined dramatically since last year (44 percent “better,” 14 percent “worse”), meaning that people have become more pessimistic about the economy the longer the current “recovery” has gone on. Continue reading →

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‘The Cause of Freedom’

Posted on April 3, 2013 by

FireworksThe following post is a transcript of a 4-minute weekly radio commentary aired on several Utah radio stations:

At the 2013 Sutherland Institute annual dinner on April 9, we will release two new publications: a booklet titled The Sutherland Idea: The Cause of Freedom and a book titled Exceptional Utah: Leading America in Faith, Family and Freedom. This week and next I’d like to share some thoughts from those new publications. This week I’ll focus on the booklet, The Cause of Freedom.

To say that freedom, or a free society, requires us to become our better selves is axiomatic. It’s self-evident. No reasonable person would say that a free society would long endure becoming our worst selves. This point is particularly true as we discuss “social issues” such as abortion, homosexuality, prostitution, illicit drug use or gambling. In fact, a central argument in opposition to those issues is that they represent bad behavior. Killing babies on demand is bad behavior. And bad behavior can become a devastating problem for a free society. Continue reading →

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Obamacare expected to raise cost of health care claims 28% in Utah

Posted on April 2, 2013 by

A new report from the Society of Actuaries – financial risk professionals that estimate long-term costs for pensions, insurance, and the government – estimates that the cost of health care claims – the “most important driver” of insurance premiums – in Utah’s individual insurance market will increase 28 percent under Obamacare. Nationally, these health care costs are expected to go up by 32 percent, on average, and as many as 43 states are estimated to experience double-digit increases in the health care claims cost.

Unsurprisingly, the Obama administration pushed back on the study. What is surprising is that they pushed back because it “ignored cost relief strategies in the law, such as tax credits to help people afford premiums and special payments to insurers who attract an outsize share of the sick” … tax credits and special payments that are paid for by the same taxpayers whose health insurance will be made “affordable” by them.

In other words, based on this report and as common sense would suggest, the massive increases in federal health care regulation that will occur under Obamacare are indeed going to make health care more expensive for many people. This will either happen directly through increases in health care premiums, or indirectly through the higher taxes necessary to pay for the tax credits and special payments in the law.

Perhaps this is one reason why not very many politicans who passed the law are publicly defending it.

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Same-sex marriage and our better selves

Posted on April 1, 2013 by

The following post is a transcript of a 4-minute weekly radio commentary aired on several Utah radio stations:

Last week the United States Supreme Court received arguments in two cases regarding same-sex marriage. The Proposition 8 case out of California concerns the constitutionality of a state constitutional amendment and the other case, the Defense of Marriage Act, concerns prohibitions on the federal government recognizing the same-sex relations of its federal employees.

There are many political and legal angles to these cases. The decisions basically rest in the hands of Justice Anthony Kennedy, who represents the court’s swing vote in such matters. In 2002, Justice Kennedy wrote the majority opinion for a case out of Texas that overturned that state’s sodomy laws and seemingly set a precedent that the court is looking for a way to support homosexuality under the law, including same-sex marriage.

However these two cases are ultimately decided, I have to wonder aloud if the average American today even understands the requirements of a free society. I’ll remind you of what I have stated repeatedly: A free society requires us to become our better selves. Continue reading →

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The myth of the gender wage gap, part 2

Posted on March 22, 2013 by

Last summer, I wrote about a 2009 government-financed research report which provided evidence that the so-called “gender wage gap” – the idea that women get paid less than men because of baseless discrimination – is largely a myth. The body of evidence supporting that position continues to grow.

Recently, I came across an article published in 2011 by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis that further verified much of what the 2009 report suggested. The authors reviewed various economic studies of the “gender wage gap,” and point out that this research suggests the difference between pay of men and women can be explained by things like differences in educational attainment, work experience, and occupational choice; a stronger “labor force attachment” in men (i.e., a long-term commitment to a career); a higher willingness among women to work part time; and a stronger preference among women for good benefits such as health insurance, even if it means getting less take-home pay. Continue reading →

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Why Utah should expect ongoing drops in federal funding

Posted on March 21, 2013 by

With sequestration now in place, federal funding for low-income and special education students, national defense (read: Hill Air Force Base), and for local government programs and services will be decreasing, with impacts which have yet to materialize. The impacts may be severe, or they may not be as bad as some believe – only time will tell.

But while the actual impact of sequestration is as yet not fully known, one thing seems more certain: Federal funding to public education, national defense, and the poor will continue to go down.

This is because, as columnist Robert Samuelson articulately points out in a Washington Post opinion piece, the single biggest factor in the federal government’s spending problem – namely federal retirement programs, such as Medicare and Social Security – is politically off limits. As Samuelson points out, the sequestration policy, consisting of significant cuts to everything except Medicare and Social Security, is a manifestation of this political reality. Further, no one in power in Washington is seriously calling for significant changes to these retirement programs any time soon. President Obama seems to see no reason to even have a serious conversation about the issue, and even Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget doesn’t enact Medicare reforms until 2024. Continue reading →

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‘Zion Curtain’ is a matter of culture

Posted on March 20, 2013 by

The following post is a transcript of a 4-minute weekly radio commentary aired on several Utah radio stations:

If you were to take a tour of my home, you would immediately notice the symbols of my family’s culture. Our living room is simple and uncluttered. On its walls hang artistic representations of our Mormon heritage and our six children. More family pictures line our hallways. In fact, our entire home is filled with the symbols of faith and family.

Of all of the things we could have chosen to decorate our home environment, we chose the symbols of faith and family. We could have chosen the symbols of other cultures. We could have chosen to decorate our home with pictures of Victoria’s Secret models or with beautiful people we don’t even know. Instead, when you walk into our home you know immediately that faith and family are at the center of our culture.

We believe that culture influences our lives. The symbols of life with which we surround ourselves are stark reminders of what’s important to us. I love my wife and I don’t need a picture of my wife to inform that love. But that picture reminds me of that love. More to the point, I don’t have pictures of strangers adorning my home precisely because they remind me of nothing. Culture matters.

The 2013 session of the Utah Legislature was quiet for the most part but the issue of Utah’s liquor laws threatened to disrupt the calm. Continue reading →

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What is ‘local control’ in public education really about?

Posted on March 19, 2013 by

How would an authentically child-centered view of public education define “local control,” in regard to actually running a public school? Does it mean state-level control, district-level control, or school-level control? According to a new study, shifting power from the state and districts to schools is where a child-centered philosophy of education should be headed.

The study, published by the National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education (a part of the Teachers College at Columbia University), found that students in “charter schools with higher autonomy from the district in terms of financial budget, academic program, and hiring decisions” read at a grade level higher than similar traditional public school students after three years. Interestingly, this was not the case when traditional public schools were compared to charter schools generally, confirming the common-sense conclusion that good charter schools can only exist with good charter school policy, which gives them real freedom from district authority. Continue reading →

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Robles, Osmond, Henderson, Valentine share highs, lows from 2013 Utah session

Posted on March 18, 2013 by

Watch our video to see what Utah State Sens. Luz Robles, Aaron Osmond, Deidre Henderson and John Valentine are most proud of from the 2013 Utah Legislative session. The legislators also tell us what they would like to continue working on in the coming year.

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Sutherland Daily among best state-based political blogs

Posted on March 15, 2013 by

Thanks to The Washington Post for putting us on their list of the nation’s best state-based blogs! The newspaper’s campaign politics blog, The Fix, compiled the list based on reader nominations.

After weeks of combing through, literally, thousands of nominations we are ready to unveil the Fix’s 2013 list of the best state-based political blogs!

Click here to find out more at The Fix blog.

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Large sodas, liquor and a free society

Posted on March 13, 2013 by

The following post is a transcript of a 4-minute weekly radio commentary aired on several Utah radio stations:

If you’ve ever searched for an infamous example of government overreaching its proper bounds, you need look no further than the New York City ban on “sugary drinks.” Last year, on June 12, the city’s Department of Health, through its Board of Health, and with full approval of New York’s mayor, Michael Bloomberg, issued a regulation that limits the sale of “sugary drinks” to containers no larger than 16 ounces. “Sugary drink” is defined as a carbonated or non-carbonated, nonalcoholic, sweetened drink that has greater than 25 calories per fluid 8 ounces of beverage.

Not only couldn’t a customer buy the drink, neither could she buy the cup size violating the regulation for self-service. The Board of Health voted 8-0 to adopt the new rule on September 12, 2012. A multi-party lawsuit was filed exactly one month later and the Supreme Court of the State of New York ruled to overturn the regulation just this month.

In its defense, the Board of Health argued, “There is an obesity epidemic among New York City residents which severely affects public health.” It argued, “The health of its residents affects the economics of a town, village, city, state and nation” and that “New York City … battles to maintain services in light of tough economic times. One of the fiercest budgetary fights is over Medicaid [and] Medicare.” You can start to see the picture – because of the modern welfare state and culture of entitlement it breeds, government must step in to fix us so we don’t break the budget.

And the only way for government to fix us, evidently, is to coerce us. Continue reading →

Posted in Alcohol, Limited Government | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Whew! ‘Global warming’ saved us from global cooling

Posted on March 11, 2013 by

In a New York Times article highlighting a recent climate study which found that global temperatures are the highest they’ve been in at least 4,000 years, there was an interesting quote from the author of the study, also highlighted, in part, by the Weekly Standard blog:

Though the paper is the most complete reconstruction of global temperature, it is roughly consistent with previous work on a regional scale. It suggests that changes in the amount and distribution of incoming sunlight, caused by wobbles in the earth’s orbit, contributed to a sharp temperature rise in the early Holocene.

The climate then stabilized at relatively warm temperatures about 10,000 years ago, hitting a plateau that lasted for roughly 5,000 years, the paper shows. After that, shifts of incoming sunshine prompted a long, slow cooling trend.

The cooling was interrupted, at least in the Northern Hemisphere, by a fairly brief spike during the Middle Ages, known as the Medieval Warm Period. (It was then that the Vikings settled Greenland, dying out there when the climate cooled again.) Continue reading →

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